Deep Cultural Diversity: A Governance Challenge

By Gilles Paquet

Political commentator and public policy analyst Gilles Paquet examines the benefits and drawbacks of Canada's multiculturalism policy. He rejects the current policy which perpetuates difference and articulates a model for Canadian transculturalism, a more fluid understanding of multiculturalism based on the philosophy of cosmopolitanism which would strengthen moral contracts and encourage the social engagement of all Canadians.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of Ottawa Press
• Release date: Apr 22, 2008
• ISBN: 9780776617503

Gilles Paquet

Gilles Paquet (1936–2019), O.C., MRSC, was Professor Emeritus at the Telfer School of Management and a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre on Governance of the University of Ottawa. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Royal Society of Arts of London, and served as President of the Royal Society of Canada (2003–2005). He studied at Laval, Queen's (Canada) and at the University of California (Los Angeles) where he was Postdoctoral Fellow in Economics. He taught at Carleton University for almost 20 years before joining the University of Ottawa in 1981. He received honorary doctorates from Queen's, Laval, and Thompson Rivers University, received the Public Service Citation Award of APEX, and was made Honorary Member of l'Association des économistes québécois. He was made Member of the Order of Canada in 1992.

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Reviews for Deep Cultural Diversity

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Professor Pacquet has done his usual thorough, thoughtful, and relevant job in assessing Canadian public policy. In this book, he looks at Canada's approach to multiculturalism, and argues that it is not serving us well. He examines the role of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which has been used to create numerous entitlements, including several rights of citizenship without any commensurate obligations to Canadian society. There are so many thoughtful ideas in this book, that I wish it were written in a less academic and more accessable style. It definitely requires a post-secondary education and knowledge of Canada's socio-cultural history to understand it fully.